Masters of the Universe and the Slime Pit

It’s Masters of the Universe day, and to celebrate I thought we would explore the classic Slime Pit playset . . . as it appeared in media in the eighties. Hunting through old newspapers and articles online I’ve tracked down a few things I think you will find enjoyable. Keep reading to look back at one disgusting and fun playset from Mattel’s Masters of the Universe toys of the 1980s.

(Packaging artwork, above, from Pinterest.)

Advertising

Since a very young age I’ve loved advertising. I can remember flipping through comic books as a kid and staring at the ads, and whenever Christmas or Easter rolled around those sale flyers in newspapers always caught my eye. (There’s a reason I wrote Each Sold Separately* so very quickly; I’d been researching for that book for decades without even realizing it.) Ads, it seems, have always a part of my life.

And what better way to start our enjoyment of the classic Slime Pit than with some old advertising from the eighties? Our first ad, above, comes from 1986 and tempts us all with $3 off the Slime Pit playset which is described as “even more terrifying than the Fright Zone.” Terrifying to adults, it seems, but we’ll get to that soon enough.

The official Mattel commercial for the Slime Pit brings a spark of color and light to our journey, and staring at this commercial all I can think is both “it’s ewesome!” and “hey, why aren’t they trying to sell me slime reloads?” How dare Mattel not use this opportunity to force kids to beg parents for both the Slime Pit and the extra slime.

Our next newspaper advertisement is special because it shows both the Slime Pit and encourages kids to attend the live show! You’re not familiar with the 1987 Masters of the Universe traveling stage show? You’ve been missing out! Fortunately, there’s an entire blog devoted to the show. You’re welcome, world.

Adult Commentary

No matter how much as kids loved the Slime Pit in the eighties, though, there were adults out there who were quite unhappy with the toy and all that it represented. It didn’t take much time at all for me to track down articles in which the adults of the age blasted the playset, offering opinions that were as opposite those of kids as you could get.

So, just how much did parents and adults hate the Slime Pit playset? Consider these opinions from testing groups in 1986, as reported in the Montreal Gazette:

“Children, especially devotees of the space cartoon [Masters of the Universe], enjoy playing with the sturdy figures, they say, Masters of the Universe slime pit — a toy that revolts adults and amuses children — got a one star rating, indicating limited play value from CCTC [Canadian Toy Testing Council]. ACQ [Association des consommateurs du Quebec] gave it a garbage can award.”

The above image, from a 1986 AP and UPI article as found in the Milwaukee Journal, kinda blurs the lines a bit when the headline asks “How safe are toys?” The Slime Pit isn’t listed as a safety issue at all, but is instead described as an “ugly” toy. Clearly the adults of the 1986 confused “awesome” with “ugly” in this instance.

Next up (above) is a snapshot of the Evening Independent reprinting the Orlando Sentinel article about childrens’ television and advertising. In the article we learn that:

“The undisguised commercials that surround these shows push items such as “The Slime Pit.” A recent addition to Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line, this $10 contraption enables youngsters to dump a glop of plasticized mucus over their favorite action figures (sold separately, of course).”

Damn, that’s great marketing text! Mattel totally should have used “dump a glop of plasticized mucus” in their product description!

Finally, I’d like to point out that not all of the adults in the eighties were completely opposed to the Slime Pit (and icky things in general). In this Working Mother article from 1987 Dave Jaffe does his best to explain to the parents exactly why kids love gross and disgusting things. In the article, Jaffe asks:

“But why would children want to play with creepy, slimy, ugly things when they have a closet full of perfectly good dolls and puzzles?”

Everything from “controlling fear” to “enjoying the touch” come up as answers, but not once does Jaffe point out that kids just get a real laugh out of grossing out their parents. Garbage Pail Kids, even today, are disgusting and strange, and that’s way too appealing for kids to resist. With the Slime Pit Mattel tapped into that vibe and gave kids of the eighties their chance to dump some nasty goop right on a captured action figure.

A Wonderful Toy!

Throughout this post I’ve only given you a peek at the Slime Pit as seen through television, newspapers, and magazines. For a look at the actual toy I highly recommend this Dinosaur Dracula review. Great pics, a wonderful story, and an infectious love for the old playset make for the best way to close out your memories of the toy on this Masters of the Universe Day.

Thanks for reading, guys, and I hope to see you back tomorrow for more randomness here at battlegrip.com.

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